


Awakenings

by lw531



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 08:44:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19808779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lw531/pseuds/lw531
Summary: What are they going to di with Rosa now that she's awake? Considering how Max used lightning to build enough strength to kill Noah, heal Michael, and resurrect, Rosa, how long will it take Isobel and Michael to gather enough strength to bring him back?





	Awakenings

Liz calls Kyle as soon as they get in the car. “Why are you calling him?”  
“Because I live with dad and an attack at work lost my job--  
“Work--job--  
“Kyle?”  
“Yeah, Liz,” Liz hears, “what’s up?”  
“Where are you now?”  
“Leaving my mom’s, why?”  
“You live alone right?”  
“Yeah,” he says taking a beat, “what’s going on?”  
“Max is dead. Rosa’s alive and I need a place she can stay…”  
“What?!”  
“I’ll tell you at your place,” she blurts out as she gets on the freeway, “right now I gotta figure out where Rosa can stay till we…”  
“See you soon,” Kyle says and takes a deep breath. Standing in front of his car door, he takes a beat before he gets in his car and drives home. The night before he was sewing up Liz and now Max is dead but Rosa’s...alive.  
He arrives home to find Rosa sitting in Liz’s car, wrapped in a blanket, and Liz standing against it, looking from side to side, “Hey,” she says.  
“How?”  
“Let us in and I’ll explain.”  
As he fumbles with the gate key, Rosa steps out of the car. She follows him and Liz up the stairs to his condo. “This wasn’t here when I--  
“It’s been ten years,” Liz says as they continue up the stairs.  
“Come in,” Kyle offers as they reach the landing in front of his door. He takes in the site of his ex-girlfriend and their sister entering his apartment. He’s grateful he found the time to clean before the trip to the alien torture prison.  
Liz takes in the makings of Kyle’s bachelor bad. Not the bro energy she expected, with full living and dining sets. As she attempts to set her jacket on a dining chair, he offers, “Let me hang it up.”  
She watches him turn to Rosa and say, “I’ll bring out some sweats for you…”  
“Thanks,” the sisters say in unison.  
Liz is too nervous to sit, and can’t stop herself from staring at her sister. She watches as Rosa wraps the blanket around her tighter and as she sets her eyes to scan her surroundings. Liz crosses her arms as she catches Kyle come back into the dining room and say, “I also set towels in the bathroom, first door to your left, “if you want to take a shower…”  
“Yeah,” Rosa says taking the clothes from the guy she recently--in her timeline--learned was her brother, “thanks. I’ll be quick.”  
Kyle nods and sets his hand on the back of a dining chair. He takes in a deep breath. Catches Liz’s eye. They’re not going to start talking till they hear the water running, he thinks to himself. Between sewing her up the night before and the nineteen-year-old Rosa in his house, there was a lot to discuss.  
“After Noah used Isabel to kill Katie, Rosa and the other girl, he had enough strength to leave his pod, apparently--  
“What does this have to do with Rosa?”  
“He put her in his pod,” Liz explains, “somehow he got her body and stored it in the pod…”  
“But how did she--”  
“Max brought her back,” Liz blurts out the tears not helping themselves to containment, “he used all his power to bring her back and--  
Kyle walks towards her and gives her a hug, “I’m sorry--  
“Isabel and Michael are putting him in his pod,” Liz interjects breaking from Kyle’s comforting embrace.  
“Michael lost his mom yesterday,” Kyle says, “and I put Sergeant Manes into a coma after he tried to kill me.”  
“Kyle!”  
“He figured he needed to silence me after I saw how they kept aliens in Caufield prison, tortured for decades,” Kyle explains, “and Alex said they were making weapons against aliens using their own DNA…”  
Liz shakes her head, “Kyle, I’m so--  
He interrupts her and says, “It’s been a crazy few days, huh?”  
“Yeah,” Liz says, “I haven’t even checked on my dad--  
“What are we gonna tell ‘im?” Rosa asks as she walks out.  
They both look at her, tiny in Kyle’s faded Michigan gear.  
“I dunno,’ Liz says, “Matt Long’s been targeting us since…”  
“Pendejo,” Rosa blurts, “his sister was the one who wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone--  
“I know,” Liz says, “but we gotta come up with a quick story…”  
“Why not the truth?”  
Liz sighs, “What do you think the truth is?”  
“Isabel tried to kill me and my friends--  
“No,” Kyle interrupts, “she didn’t.” He pulls out a seat for her and asks, “you hungry?”  
She nods but remains standing, “What do you mean she didn’t, she put her hand--  
“Have a seat, Rosa,” Liz explains taking a seat herself, “there’s a lot to catch you up on---  
“Did you never leave Roswell, Liz?!”  
“Yes,” she answers, “right after we buried you. I stayed after I realized an alien killed you, and I spent months trying to figure out who did it. Once I had an idea, I created a serum to mute their powers.”  
“Serum, what are you a doctor now?!” Rosa asks smiling.  
Liz can’t tell if it’s a smile of pride or contempt but then answers, “No, I do medical research--Kyle’s the doctor.”  
“Are two together--  
“No,” Liz answers, “we broke up after I left.”  
“Why’d you bring me here then?” Rosa asks leaning back in her chair, “if you’re not--  
“Because he’s your brother,” Liz answers, “I found that out too once I found your backpack, then Kyle found the place his dad was helping you get clean and…  
“So you know?” Rosa asks looking down at her sweatshirt.  
“I haven’t told Pa’ yet,” Liz explains, “I wouldn’t know where to begin and we’ve been trying to keep Noah from killing more people.”  
“Who’s Noah?” Rosa asks.  
“The alien that possessed Isabel all the time you thought you spent with her...the one who really killed you and those other girls--  
“Among others,” Kyle adds as he comes back into the front room. “Hopefully this works, Rosa,” he says putting a kale salad in front of her. “I went healthy given…  
“Sure,” she says, “I just got back from the dead so I guess I should eat greens and stuff.”  
Kyle looks at Liz who shrugs at him and then at Rosa who keeps her eyes on her kale and chicken.  
“How’s your wound?” Kyle asks Liz.  
“Fine,” Liz answers.  
“Wound?”  
“Noah tried to kill me last night,” Liz explains to Rosa, “he gets power from killing people. Saving people,” Liz explains, “drains them. And Kyle,” she begins turning to him, “Maria’s mom has to know something.”  
“Maria’s mom?” Kyle and Rosa ask in unison.  
“Yeah,” Liz says freaking out at their minor sibling moment, “Maria’s pendant has a flower whose pollen paralyzes them, knocks them unconscious…”  
“Liz!” Rosa blurts out, “they’re dangerous!”  
“Max saved my life twice and brought you back from the dead, Rosa,” Liz says defending them, “it’s not that simple.”  
“We tortured a bunch of them since they crashed here,” Kyle adds, “assuming the worst of all them. Noah seems to be the only asshole…”  
“Max took care of that,” Liz breathes. She takes a minute as thinking about Max brings the feeling of his lifeless body under her and as much as she’s invested in figuring out what to do with Rosa, her heart still hurts from the ache of losing Max. Given the echo, she felt a part of herself go with him.  
“You can stay here,” Kyle says, “until we figure out what to do…”  
“Thanks,” Rosa says taking in the last bit of her salad, “we’ll probably need a way to get me out of her for good, then.”  
“I’m sorry?” Liz asks, “What are you talking about?”  
“You know I’m right, Liz,” Rosa says, “I’m the one thing that can’t be explained. The one lie too big to tell--  
“Let’s not make any major decisions yet,” Kyle says, “we have a lot to learn from each other before any of that happens,” he reaches his hand out over to her, “you can stay here as long as you want--  
“Don’t fight this, Rosa,” Liz says, “I can’t lose anyone else today…”  
“What--  
“Max was in love with her,” Kyle explains, “and we want to enjoy you, even if for a little bit.”  
“So,” Rosa admits to herself, “I’m a prisoner…”

**  
“I wanna know what I missed,” Rosa tells Liz as Kyle steps away to take a business call.  
“What?” Liz asks as she puts on her coat.  
“You can’t leave me here without telling me what I missed,” Rosa says, “especially if you did leave Roswell…”  
“I took that road trip,” Liz says setting her coat down, “and I went to school out of state. I went to three schools in three states, actually,” she said smiling, “I couldn’t stay in one place too long--  
“Did you come back a lot?” Rosa asks leaning in, waiting for Liz to sit down.  
Liz shakes her head no, “De vez en cuando,” she answers, “to check on dad.”  
“She barely talked to me,” Kyle interrupts as he walks back into the dining room, “She let me be her facebook friend by sophomore year--  
“Yeah,” Liz said, “I needed to make sure you were dating--  
Kyle rolls his eyes, “it’s not like that for guys like me.”  
Liz nods, “I knew I wanted to help people and got buried in work. I never heard from Mom, didn’t know how to find her, so I just came in for the holidays,” adding, “this was the first time I came back around the anniversary of--  
“So you’ve been around since the summer, then,” Rosa asks, “trying to figure out how I died?  
Kyle nods, “it was a pretty intense rabbit hole.”  
“After Max saved my life,” Liz said, taking a deep breath but wanting to commit to the story, “I asked him to see memories of you, then I asked Kyle to find your medical records…”  
“So that’s how you got caught up in the alien stuff?”  
Kyle and Liz both nod.  
“So,” Rosa asks, “I wonder who’s buried where I’m supposed to be…”  
“We never checked,” Kyle thinks out loud, “we only just learned you weren’t there.”  
“Yeah,” Liz agrees sitting down, “between making sure Dad was safe, curing Isabel, we never thought to dig it up--and we wouldn’t have.”  
Rosa shrugs looks at her sister and the guy she must now admit is her brother and says, “I have more questions. Like who else knows?”  
“Alex,” Kyle answers, “and this cop this was helping us, Max’s partner.  
“--Former partner,” Liz interjects, “Maria and Dad have no idea. Graham Green had been the guy who called 911 on your bodies floating, but Long, possessed by Noah, killed him to keep him from saying more…”  
“Shit,” Rosa exclaims, “like what the hell?!”  
“Yeah,” Liz says.  
“Like why’d they come here?” Rosa asks shaking her head, “like so many of them ruined so many lives…”  
“Because of a civil war?” Kyle thinks out loud.  
“They were escaping persecution,” Liz says, “from what Noah told Max, but no one’s sure.”  
“I guess some people are allowed to change,” Rosa says, “you just gotta be able to kill--  
“Or save people,” Liz interjects.  
“I just need to talk a lot of this through,” Rosa says leaning forward at the table, “I can’t go out because everyone thinks I’m dead, and that I killed those girls,” Rosa takes a breath and says, “because I’m still nineteen…”  
Rosa gets up and runs her fingers through her hair, “This is fucked up,” she says, “why’d Max--  
“Because he knew how much I missed you,” Liz says leaning back, “I was at your tombstone talking about how much I wanted to tell you about him. I was telling you how much I missed you…”  
“So,” Rosa says, “was he there with you?”  
Liz shakes her head no. Looking to her side she says, “When aliens lay their hands on you, for a period after, you feel echoes of what the other is feeling or thinking,” she looks at Rosa standing on the other side of her and says, “and he knew that learning the truth gave me another sort of grief.”  
The tears couldn’t resist falling from Liz’s eyes. “I’ll call my dad,” Liz says, “tell him I’m on assignment.”  
She gets up and walks back to the kitchen, Kyle’s eyes following her. He figures she’s staying because Rosa needs an additional babysitter, one that knows her ticks. He and his high school sweetheart share a sister. It’s not the most major part of the past summer and fall, but it’s enough to have him scratching his head and leaving him speechless. They’ve fed Rosa all the information about how they got to bringing her back from the dead and all the alien stuff she may not have known. 

OoOoO

On the other side of town, Michael and Isabel were leaving the cave where they left Max in the pod. “Fucking idiot,” Michael says as they leave, “he shouldn’t have done that--”  
“We do stupid things for love, Michael,” Isabel says, “don’t we?”  
“It was nice just playing my guitar and hanging with Maria today--  
“Maria?”  
“I can’t deal with Manes right now,” Michael says, “he just...he reminds me his dad is the reason I lost my mom.”  
Isabel takes him in her arms. Determined to find a way to save Max, comforting Michael who had been so close to his mom, even if for moments, remained necessary. In the months of learning who Noah was, the capability of their powers and what really happened to Rosa was devastating. “I get it,” she says, “but what the fuck are we going to do with Max? I know I’m not strong enough to--  
“Me either,” Michael says, “And the antidote won’t work on this…”  
“We have to get stronger,” Isabel says, “do you know how he did it?”  
“He walked out into the thunderstorm,” Michae says, “I think.”  
“So let’s go find a thunderstorm,” Isabel says. 

OoOoO  
Michael and Isabel knew they had to start small once they started harnessing the power of thunderstorms. They clean up Max’s house to the best of their ability, considering how long they know they’ll have to be gone. Isabel tells her parents that Max, out of grief for not saving Noah, is taking time off. She tells the Sheriff’s department the same thing; explaining that his silence is due to grief, the grief she’s decided to bear.  
After performing grief and outrage and the harm Noah experienced because of the thunderstorm, they set out to start chasing them. They wait a few days after the memorial service, raiding what little knowledge they could from his shrine to Rosa and secret place. When her parents ask about Max, she tells him they left town. “we have to try with animals first,” Isabel says, “see if we can bring them back before--  
“Right,” Michael says.  
They pick up the thunderstorms in their region first, holding their hands up to the sky as Max had. It’s a different rush, Michael feels, and the intensity of it hurts at first. The pain goes away when he uses his powers. On seeing Isabel break an abandoned cinder block wall with her mind, he says, “now you can do that, too?”  
“There was something to what Noah was saying,” she explains smoothing her hands on her jeans, “I practiced on a frame the morning after he died…”  
“And so you know you can kill people,” Michael comments as they head back towards her car, “given how he used--  
“So we’ve gotta get strong enough to save people,” Isabel remarks.  
“Yeah,” Michael says.  
They do most of their storm chasing by car. As they continue, traveling, practicing and gaining strength, Michael offers, “Should we call Liz?”  
“It’s been a couple of weeks since we told her we were looking for answers,” Isabel says, “she has enough with Rosa being back…”  
“She told me Maria’s pendant has the flower where that yellow pollen that paralyzed us comes from--  
“What?!” Isabel asks pausing in front of her door.  
“It’s from Libya,” Michael answers opening his door, “she’s trying to see if she can create an antidote to it--  
“What good is that gonna do, Michael?!”  
“She has to do something,” he tells her as she gets into the car, “I don’t like her either, but she never asked him to save her. She’s fucked up about it, too…”  
“And it’s not like she’s going to that Palo Alto job,” Isabel says starting the car…  
“So you tried again,” Michael asks.  
“I had to,” Isabel admits as they drove towards a road, “I don’t want her sticking around unless…”  
“Unless she’s got a vested interest in seeing Max alive again--why didn’t you try Rosa?”  
“Because that girl’s been through enough,” Isabel answers, “And I’d have to get close to her, you know, and she’s under house arrest at Kyle’s…”  
“Max just never thinks, does he?” Michael thinks out loud, “bringing someone back to life isn’t enough…Not when they’ve been dead for so long.”  
“What haven’t we done for love, Michael?” She offers, “we’re driving across the region looking for storms so we can go home strong enough to save him from himself--  
“We’re dreamin’,” Michael breathes.  
“And you know he’d do the same for us,” she says, “dreamin’ and each other are all we have.”  
It takes them another month to bring a deer back from almost dying...as the weather gets colder and it starts to rain at home, they head back home, hoping they have what it takes to bring him back.


End file.
